The first sand-track of the year in the 2012 AMA Motocross Championship awaited the return of the riders at the weekend, with perfect conditions kicking off the day.
250 Lites Class
Qualifying fastest was Raptor Titanium sponsored championship contender Eli Tomac of the Geico Honda squad, ahead of team-mate and fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored man Justin Barcia.
Geico Honda's latest acquisition and Raptor Titanium sponsored man Zach Bell took the first holeshot in the first race, but it was to be a huge learning curve for the newcomer as championship contenders Eli Tomac, Marvin Musquin of KTM Red Bull USA and Blake Baggett sat right behind pressuring all the way.
Tomac took advantage of Bell going down on lap six and moved into the lead with a strong advantage over second place Marvin Musquin and then Blake Baggett. The three remained that way to the chequered flag, with Raptor Titanium's Ken Roczen in 4th and Blake Wharton taking 6th.
The second race was much more akin to what we have seen this year as Blake Baggett had an epic battle with our sponsored man Ken Roczen of KTM Red Bull USA. Both passed holeshotter Jessy Nelson very early in the race and the other three championship rivals Musquin, Tomac and Barcia were not far behind.
As the track cut up really rough late in the race, lap times began to tumble as they struggled to carve their way through the tricky sand conditions, with Baggett taking advantage of this and showing he is certainly the strongest rider this year moving into the lead and the race win, with Roczen 2nd and Tomac in 3rd to tie with Baggett on points for the day.
250 Lites Results
1. B Baggett 3/1 KAW
2. E Tomac 1/3 HON
3. K Roczen 4/2 KTM
4. M Musquin 2/5 KTM
5. J Barcia 7/4 HON
6. M Stewart 6/7 KTM
7. A Martin 8/6 HON
8. J Nelson 5/11 HON
9. T Baker 10/10 HON
10. R Sipes 12/12 YAM
11. J Bogle 11/13 HON
12. J Anderson 37/8 SUZ
13. W Hahn 21/9 HON
14. B Wharton 9/28 SUZ
15. C Thompson YAM
16. J Hayes KTM
17. T Lorusso SUZ
18. Z Freeberg KTM
19. S Rife HON
20. M Davalos SUZ
450 Motocross Class
Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Broc Tickle was on top in qualifying for the 450 class, with Raptor Titanium sponsored man and championship points leader Ryan Dungey of KTM Red Bull USA in 2nd.
Raptor Titanium sponsored championship 2nd place man Mike Alessi of Motoconcepts Suzuki took the holeshot in race 1 but Dungey was really close behind, moving into the lead on lap 5 to complete another routine win for the KTM rider with Alessi taking a hard-earned 2nd.
Race 2 looked to be going the same way with Alessi taking yet another holeshot this year with Dungey moving past very early on this time and easing out a comfortable lead. This was where the similarities with previous races this year ended though as Dungey took a tumble into the sand and Alessi regained the lead. Dungey managed to get himself back on the bike and running again in second place, with a charging Tyla Rattray of Pro Circuit Kawasaki sitting in third.
Dungey put in an absolutely storming lap to take control of the race once more and retake the lead, but damage to the bike meant he had to stop and take on fuel and came out behind Rattray who had overtaken Alessi into the lead!
After a blistering quick pit stop, Dungey came out close to Rattray and pressured the South African right to the chequered flag, coming in 2nd behind Rattray who took his first ever 450 moto win. Alessi came a solid 3rd place, with fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Josh Grant and Kyle Chisholm of Jeff Ward Racing Kawasaki coming 8th and 9th.
450 Motocross Results
1. R Dungey 1/2 KTM
2. M Alessi 2/3 SUZ
3. B Tickle 6/4 KAW
4. D Millsaps 7/6 YAM
5. T Rattray 20/1 KAW
6. M Brown 9/7 KTM
7. J Grant 8/8 KAW
8. A Short 5/11 HON
9. Chisholm 11/9 KAW
10. T Hahn 3/35 HON
11. Marshall 4/32 KTM
12. M Byrne 40/5 SUZ
13. Rockstool 14/12 HON
14. J Dowd 10/16 KAW
15. C Craig 15/15 HON
16. L Smith KTM
17. B LaMay YAM
18. Weimer 13/19 KAW
19. R Kiniry YAM
20. P Nicoletti HON
250 Lites Points
Blake Baggett 400
Justin Barcia 376
Eli Tomac 368
Ken Roczen 345
Marvin Musquin 294
Wil Hahn 230
Blake Wharton 197
Jason Anderson 181
Jessy Nelson 170
Travis Baker 156
Jake Canada 132
Malcolm Stewart 123
Alex Martin 109
G Swanepoel 106
Ivan Tedesco 105
K Cunningham 96
Justin Bogle 84
Kyle Peters 73
Martin Davalos 58
Zack Freeberg 57
Motocross Points
Ryan Dungey 430
Mike Alessi 345
Jake Weimer 290
Andrew Short 273
Broc Tickle 253
Josh Grant 195
Justin Brayton 185
Kyle Chisholm 159
James Stewart 151
Brett Metcalfe 142
Michael Byrne 138
Davi Millsaps 114
Tommy Hahn 101
Nico Izzi 95
Ryan Sipes 94
Tyla Rattray 84
Les Smith 66
Cole Thompson 64
Christian Craig 62
Jimmy Albertson 61
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